Chiefs winger Coombes-Fabling seals two-year move to French Pro D2 side Oyonnax

Liam Coombes-Fabling will depart the Chiefs at the end of the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season, having agreed a two-year contract with French Pro D2 club Oyonnax. The 27-year-old outside back becomes the latest New Zealand player to commit to French rugby, joining a club located just an hour from Geneva.

The move caps a career-best Super Rugby season for Coombes-Fabling, who started a personal-high 10 games across both wings and fullback, scoring four tries — matching the tally he had accumulated across his previous 16 Super Rugby appearances combined.

Oyonnax sports manager Fabien Cibray welcomed the signing, highlighting the player’s physical attributes and character. “Liam is a small player but very fast and very versatile because he can evolve both on the wing and at the back, with very good footwork,” Cibray said. “At the Chiefs, he is known for his values on and off the field.”

Oyonnax finished fourth in the 2025/26 Pro D2 season before suffering a heavy 48-7 semi-final defeat to eventual champions Vannes. Coombes-Fabling will arrive with experience of performing under pressure, having stepped up significantly for the Chiefs this season in the absence of injured All Blacks teammates Leroy Carter and Emoni Narawa, as well as Etene Nanai-Seturo — who has himself signed a three-year deal with ASM Clermont Auvergne.

Despite those absences, the Chiefs secured the No.2 seed in Super Rugby Pacific, aided by the emergence of new recruit Kyren Taumoefolau and breakout performances from rookie Issac Hutchinson out wide.

Coombes-Fabling, a six-time Highlanders representative who made his Waikato debut in 2020, has been named to start on the right wing for the Chiefs in this weekend’s Super Rugby Pacific semi-final against the Crusaders — meaning he will have one final shot at silverware with the franchise before heading to France.